Tonight we have some light precip moving through mainly in the form of freezing rain/sleet and that will likely persist throughout the overnight hours. The “main event” will move in before dawn tomorrow in the form of all rain at the coast, a mix in the foothills and mainly sleet/snow in the mountains. Almost everyone will see rain for a period Monday morning before a powerful cold front passes through creating a dangerous flash-freeze setup where rain/melted snow will suddenly freeze on roads/sidewalks making for icy conditions. Almost everyone will have a shot at some snow squalls after the front passes through which could briefly reduce visibility and cause slick roads. Despite this, I expect no major travel impacts from this storm as it will be mostly rain/freezing rain and temps will be mild enough for salt to work on the roads.
Winds will become gusty out of the S/SE out ahead of the front and will then become gusty out of the NW behind the front as temps fall precipitously into the 10’s and 20’s.
Today we will be waking up to light to moderate snow and that will continue throughout the day. Winds will begin to pick up reducing visibility and making for dangerous wind chills. Data that came in last night brought a slight increase to totals so a new snow map is posted below.. Travel is becoming dangerous today as conditions worsen so I urge you to use extreme caution if you must drive today. Snow will become heavy tonight with snowfall rates approaching 2″/hr especially across Southern New England. Winds will pick up out of the NE reaching 50 mph over Cape Cod and Long Island with 40 mph gusts across the remainder of coastal areas. Inland areas likely see gusts of 20-30 mph.
Conditions slowly get better Friday as the storm pulls away though winds will still be strong and thus wind chills dangerously low. Saturday, temps moderate slightly into the 10’s and 20’s and warm up even more Sunday with temps in the 20’s and 30’s. Rain and freezing rain move in Sunday night into Monday.
As we ring in 2014, we have another snowstorm on our hands. This one will be centered over Southern New England with Boston likely seeing some of the highest amounts potentially over a foot. Winds will factor in as well reaching 30-35mph out of the NE. This will create ocean enhancement along the coast so totals will likely be higher there. The other factor will be the extreme cold. This creates both dangerous wind chills and very fluffy snow which will blow around like crazy. This cold air is one of the things playing into the hands of those wanting snow. The colder the air, the fluffier the snow meaning you get the ‘fluff factor’ which can boost totals by as much as 4-6″.
The snow will move in Thursday morning and remain light but steady through Thursday evening. This is when things get interesting as the low begins to rapidly strengthen south of New England. During this time, heavy snow and strong winds will affect areas from NYC to Boston to Bangor Maine. Travel during this time will be very dangerous as snowfall rates will approach 1-2″ an hour over much of CT, MA, and RI. Snowfall will be lighter here in Maine and New Hampshire but will still be heavy enough to cause problems. Snow will continue into Friday ending midday however winds will still be strong out of the N shifting to NW. The map below shows where travel will be most difficult late Thursday into early Friday.
Snowfall amounts will range from just a few flurries in the mountains of ME, and NH to over a foot in SE MA. Here in Maine, we will be on the northern fringe of this one so expect the highest amounts over southern York county. The map below illustrates my thinking on snowfall totals.
Our next chance for snow/sleet will be associated with another coastal storm early next week.
Forecasterjack 